Going Long with Josh Cox, pt. 1

The American 50k Record Holder powers through tough long runs with U2, Michael Jackson, and lots of help from Rocky.

Josh Cox spends a lot of time on the road. The U.S record holder at 50 kilometers, Cox frequently logs 140 miles a week in training. He spends most of his weekends in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., running two- to three-hour long runs that cover between 22 and 31 miles.

Today Cox is training for an even longer run, the 55-mile Comrades Marathon in South Africa, which he plans race in 2010. That means the 33-year-old Cox will spend even more time on the roads and trails in Mammoth, and more time listening to music. Cox says he'll have his white earbuds in during all of his runs unless he's running with a group.

Fortunately, he has plenty of tunes to keep him company.

"I have over 50,000 songs in my library," Cox says. "I love music because it can go places words alone could never hope to go.

"One of my favorite quotes about music is from Ben Harper, who said, 'Music is the last true voice of the human spirit. It can go beyond language, beyond age, and beyond color straight to the mind and heart of all people.' That's so true.

"It'd be really hard for me to pare down my favorite songs into a single playlist. So I didn't. Instead, I created two playlists: The first (below) is for hard sessions, and the second one (see Interview continues, with Josh Cox's playlist for easy runs."Going Long with Josh Cox, pt. 2" for 2nd playlist and interview) is for easy days."

"Where the Streets Have No Name" (Track 1): "I've listened to 'Streets' before each of my races since 1989. I love the song's first words."